Recommend CO's Firing For Excessive Absence

PATRICK FERRAIUOLO: Questions agency's consistency.

An Administrative Law Judge has recommended firing for a Correction Officer who used more than 140 sick days in 16 months, even though COs are entitled under contract to unlimited sick leave for job-related absences.

Vera Givens, who has been with the Correction Department since 2001, argued that 135 of her sick days should be excluded because they were due to work-related injuries covered by Workers' Compensation. By her count, she was only absent for 20 days unrelated to work.

Claimed Coffee Caused Injuries

"To begin with, it is doubtful whether 135 of [Ms. Givens'] sick days were due to work-related illnesses," Administrative Law Judge Kevin F. Casey wrote in his decision. She attributed many of her absences to an incident where other Correction Officers threw coffee that struck her face and eyes.

Correction officers are afforded unlimited sick leave because of the dangers of their job, but may be terminated for excessive absenteeism if they are out sick more than 40 days within a 12-month period. Some absences, such as line-of-duty injuries directly resulting from a use of force, are excluded from the calculation of the use of sick leave. None of Ms. Givens's absences was related to the use of force, however. In 12 months between May 2007 to May 2008, she was out more than 95 days.

"Indeed, it is difficult to believe that respondent suffered such extensive injuries from a minor dispute with a co-worker," Judge Casey noted. "The episode occurred in front of multiple witnesses, none of whom supported [Ms. Givens's] version of the events."

The ALJ recommended termination but Correction Commissioner Martin F. Horn has the final say in the disciplinary proceeding.

Correction unions did not rush to the defense of Ms. Givens, but they said unlimited sick leave is a provision the officers desperately need.

Correction Officers Benevolent Association President Norman Seabrook said, "The union has filed a grievance with the Office of Collective Bargaining challenging the Department of Correction's ability to discipline Correction Officers and infringing upon their contractual rights for unlimited sick leave. Moving forward, we will vigorously protect and defend our members' rights both on duty and off."

CCA: A Contractual Right

"My stance is that sick leave is something that this union and others negotiated," Correction Captains Association First Vice President Patrick Ferraiuolo said in a phone interview. "It's contractual."

"The only thing our members should be held to is sick leave rules and regulations," he said, adding that the CCA had filed a grievance in November against the Correction Department for disciplining Captains who had excessive sick leave. He pointed out then that Captains were being charged with medical incompetency rather than excessive absenteeism, which is harder to prove.

Cites Mutual Benefit

"If the department is going to keep touting unlimited sick, we should have it," Captain Ferraiuolo said, referring to recruiting ads for Correction Officers which mention this policy.

Assistant Deputy Wardens/Deputy Wardens Association President Sidney Schwartzbaum said he once considered trading in his leave rights because his members take such few sick days. Even though his members' sick time averages out to about four days a year, he believes the benefit is necessary in the case of a correction officer contracting a disease from an inmate. "In the environment we work in, where a large portion of the inmates are carrying hepatitis and other diseases, unlimited sick days are absolutely necessary," he said. "Don't punish the vast majority for the actions of a few."